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Print Friendly MapThe Franklin Greenway Trail (also known as the Franklin Historic Trail) is 3.4 miles of paths threading through Franklin’s parks while connecting community amenities such as schools, community centers and the Franklin college campus.The trail is paved and off-road for most of its length although there are a number of street crossings.
The trail begins on Creekwood Lane between Story and Woodfield drives and initially goes south before curving widely and heading east. Tangential to the bend is a loop of trail, but there is a branch that avoids the loop and continues towards Blue Heron Park and Wetland, with its kaleidoscope of wildflowers. The pathway ducks under US 31 and skirts the perimeter of the Franklin Greenlawn Cemetery before it begins to follow the course of Young’s Creek. Across S. Main St. and the bridge over Young’s Creek, the trail takes you to Province Park. After E. Monroe St. the trail starts to parallel another waterway, Hurricane Creek. Passing near the Boys and Girls Club, the path passes through the open grassland and riparian woodland of Morgan Park. The trail ends along E 100 N.
Parking is available at Blue Heron Park and Wetland (405 Driftwood Ct) and Province Park (389 E. Monroe St.).
We parked at Community Park and went north along Hurricane Creek. It was shaded and very lovely. We went on several connected bike paths not shown such as E. King Street, Eastview Drive and Hurricane road. Wish we had time to go along Young's Creek!
Paved well and clean.
This trail is nice. However, it could use better signage. It’s easy to take a wrong turn and end up turned around. It’s also very narrow in a few areas making it hard to pass others. I’m not sure why but in 4-5 areas colored chalk covers the trail making it a mess if you’re not careful to avoid it.
My wife and I parked at Blue Heron Park just off Rt-31 and rode eastward. The route is paved all the way, but it pays to be familiar with the route. We made a few wrong turns since there are very few signs directing us where to go. For example, the route goes through a cemetery. When we got to it, there was no indication which road in the cemetery to take. We eventually found the right way, but had to "hunt around" a bit. A map at the trailhead would have been helpful. A big plus is that much of the trail in Franklin is shaded. It's a bit more "open" when you travel farther east.
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